Electronic circuit chip or board (e.g., positioning)

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20100188499

System and method for inspecting a wafer - A method and a system for inspecting a wafer. The system comprises an optical inspection head, a wafer table, a wafer stack, a XY table and vibration isolators. The optical inspection head comprises a number of illuminators, image capture devices, objective lens and other optical components. The system and method enables capture of brightfield images, darkfield images, 3D profile images and review images. Captured images are converted into image signals and transmitted to a programmable controller for processing. Inspection is performed while the wafer is in motion. Captured images are compared with reference images for detecting defects on the wafer. An exemplary reference creation process for creating reference images and an exemplary image inspection process is also provided by the present invention. The reference image creation process is an automated process.

07-29-2010

20090273669

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETECTING CRITICAL DEFECTS - A system and method for evaluating a criticality of a defect. The method may include: obtaining information indicative of at least one spatial relationship between at least one inspected pattern of a layer of a micro-electronic device and an inspected defect; and determining a criticality of the detected defect in response to the obtained information and in response to at least one rule that associates between a criticality of a defect and a spatial relationship between the defect and at least one edge of at least one pattern of a layer of a micro-electronic device.

11-05-2009

20160028936

AUTO-FOCUS SYSTEM - A distance measuring system is provided for auto focusing a camera of an inspection system for inspecting a planar surface that is patterned. The system includes a pattern generator, an image sensor, an optical element(s) and a processor. The pattern generator projects a spatially random pattern toward the planar surface at an oblique angle. The optical element(s) forms the image of the reflected pattern on the image sensor and the image sensor captures an image of the spatially random pattern reflected off the planar surface. The processor processes the image of the spatially random pattern and provides auto-focus information.

01-28-2016

20130002850

INSPECTION OF A COMPONENT - A component such as a pressure vessel includes a cladding layer bonded to a substrate by a welding process. The component is inspected by a method that includes using a first camera to record a first image of an inspection portion of the cladding layer, the inspection portion having a pattern of markings; causing or allowing a temperature change in the component; using a second camera to record a second image of the inspection portion; and identifying the deformation of the pattern of markings on the inspection portion by reference to relative movement of the respective markings between the first and second image. The temperature change may occur as a result of cooling of the component after the welding process. Analysis of the deformation may be conducted by a Digital Image Correlation process, enabling possible defects or flaws in the component to be identified.

01-03-2013

20090268021

Imaging Position Correction Method, Imaging Method, and Substrate Imaging Apparatus - An imaging method for imaging an image on a substrate at an accurate position while relatively moving the substrate and the imaging unit. The imaging method includes the steps of taking an image while relatively moving the substrate and a camera, predicting a shift amount of the imaging position and the position of the actual imaging when generating an imaging trigger without a correction, based on the relative moving speed and moving distance of the substrate and camera, and correcting the imaging trigger for shifting the timing of generating the imaging trigger only for the time corresponding to the predicted shift amount.

10-29-2009

20100321487

COMPONENT PLACEMENT APPARATUS - To provide a component placement apparatus capable of preventing free operation of a mounting head within the movable region from being restricted as well as improving the mounting takt time.

12-23-2010

20110001818

THREE DIMENSIONAL SHAPE MEASUREMENT APPARATUS - A three dimensional shape measurement apparatus includes an illumination section and a grating transfer unit. The illumination section includes a light source unit generating a light and a grating unit changing the light generated by the light source unit into a grating pattern light having a grating pattern. The illumination section illuminates the grating pattern light onto a measurement target in a predetermined direction. The grating transfer unit transfers the grating unit in a predetermined inclination direction with respect to an extension direction of the grating pattern and an arrangement direction of the grating pattern. Thus, manufacturing cost may be reduced, and the three dimensional shape measurement apparatus may be easily managed.

01-06-2011

20160025650

OVERLAY METROLOGY METHOD AND OVERLAY CONTROL METHOD AND SYSTEM - The present disclosure provides an overlay metrology method, an overlay control method and an overlay control system. The overlay metrology method includes capturing a current layer image of a current overlay mark on a current layer with a current focal length and capturing a previous layer image of a previous overlay mark on a previous layer with a previous focal length. Then, the overlay metrology method further includes combining the current layer image with the previous layer image to form an overlay mark image and determining an overlay error between the current overlay mark and the previous overlay mark based on the overlay mark image.

01-28-2016

20110007146

SUBSTRATE INSPECTION DEVICE AND SUBSTRATE INSPECTION METHOD - An inspection process before component mounting for all component mounting positions on which components are to be mounted is performed when a reenter mode is not set by operation of a reenter switch, a recognition camera is first caused to recognize the component mounting position and then a component presence inspection process which inspects whether or not the component is mounted on the component mounting position is performed when the reenter mode is set by the reenter switch, and, the inspection process before component mounting is performed for the component mounting position on which the component is not mounted.

01-13-2011

20120113246

LINE-WIDTH INSPECTION DEVICE - The present invention discloses a line-width inspection device. The line-width inspection device has a platform, an image capturing device, a main light source device and at least one compensation light source device. The image capturing device is mounted above the platform, aligned with an inspection area of the platform and captures images of a pattern under inspection in the inspection area. The main light source device is disposed above the platform and correspondingly provides forward illumination to the inspection area, and an incident direction thereof is perpendicular to the platform. The at least one compensation light source device is mounted above the platform and provides compensation illumination to the inspection area. The additional compensation light source device can prevent edges of the pattern under inspection from occurring shadows and affecting image capturing, so as to enhance precision of image capturing.

05-10-2012

20110032348

DEFECT MONITORING IN SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE FABRICATION - A method of forming a device is presented. The method includes providing a substrate containing at least a partially formed device thereon. The device comprises at least one defect site. A pixilated image of the defect site is acquired, and each pixel comprises a grey level value (GLV). Surrounding noises of the defect site is eliminated. A point of the image is identified as the center of the defect. A plurality of iterations to exclude outer edge pixels surrounding the center of the defect image is performed. The defect is categorized as a killer or non-killer defect.

02-10-2011

20120013731

COMPONENT PRESENCE/ABSENCE JUDGING APPARATUS AND METHOD - A component presence/absence judging apparatus judges the presence/absence of a component through a registration step and an inspection step. The registration step comprises an ante-mounting color information acquisition step, a post-mounting color information acquisition step and an inspection area determination step. Ante-mounting color information is acquired from an ante-mounting image taken at a predetermined portion on an ante-mounting board. Post-mounting color information is acquired from a post-mounting image taken at the predetermined portion on a post-mounting board. Then, a section having a large difference between both color information of the ante-mounting image and the post-mounting image is identified and is determined as an inspection area. At the inspection step, the presence/absence of the component at a predetermined place on each inspection board to be inspected is judged in dependence on the color information on the determined inspection area.

METHOD FOR IMAGING WORKPIECE SURFACES AT HIGH ROBOT TRANSFER SPEEDS WITH REDUCTION OR PREVENTION OF MOTION-INDUCED DISTORTION - A method is provided for imaging a workpiece by capturing successive frames of an elongate stationary field of view transverse to a workpiece transit path of a robot, while the workpiece is transported by the robot. The robot transit path is illuminated with an elongate illumination pattern transverse to the transit path to obtain a workpiece image of successive frames. Motion-induced image distortion is prevented or reduced adjusting the camera frame rate in real time in proportion to changes in robot velocity profile of the workpiece along the transit path.

COMPONENT MOUNTING SYSTEM, IMAGE RECOGNITION DATA PREPARATION APPARATUS, AND IMAGE RECOGNITION DATA PREPARATION METHOD - It is an objective to provide a component mounting system capable of enhancing work efficiency by diminishing work load stemming from preparation of image recognition data, an image recognition data preparation apparatus, and an image recognition data preparation method. A line camera structurally similar to a line camera used in a component mounting machine outputs image data while a component is irradiated with reflective illumination light and transmissive illumination light. The thus-output image data are acquired and subjected to recognition processing, to thus prepare image recognition data on the basis of a result of recognition processing. Subsequently, a recognition test using the thus-prepared image recognition data is performed, thereby determining whether or not the image recognition data are appropriate. A recognition test which would be performed in an actual component mounting machine thereby becomes unnecessary. Data readjustment operation which would be required when a result of recognition test is determined to be inappropriate is precluded, so that work efficiency can be enhanced by diminishing work load stemming from preparation of image recognition data.

11-22-2012

20160116419

MULTIPLE CAMERA WAFER INSPECTION - A system and method for inspecting a surface, comprising: illuminating said surface with an electromagnetic radiation to generate scattered radiation, having a plurality of scattering angles, from features of said surface; collecting said scattered radiation from said surface at two or more positions, with radiation collected at each position forming an image of a plurality of points on said surface by collecting a portion of said scattered radiation propagating in a subset of said scattering angles; detecting images of surface at two or more said positions; and combining information from two or more said images of surface to generate a global information set, having information from a plurality of said scattering angles collected by two or more said imaging modules, whereby said features of said surface are detected in said images of surface and in said global information set.

04-28-2016

20130215258

Device for Noncontact Determination of Edge Profile at a Thin Disk-Shaped Object - A device for noncontact determination of the edge profile at a thin disk-shaped object helps determining the edge profile at semiconductor wafers in which exact image recording is not impaired by specular reflections of the edge profile. A plurality of light sources in the form of laser radiation sources each emitting a line-shaped light bundle are arranged so as to be coplanar in a common plane representing a measurement plane oriented orthogonal to a base plane of the object and are directed from different directions to a common intersection of the laser radiation sources in the edge region of the object. A light sheet is formed in the measurement plane and at least one base camera is directed in the base plane lateral to the measurement plane to capture scattered light proceeding from a light line generated by the light sheet when impinging the object edge region.

08-22-2013

20130100276

High Speed Autofocus System - A method and apparatus for optimizing inspection high-speed optical inspection of parts using intelligent image analysis to determine optimal focus using high numerical aperture (NA) optics, achieve a superior signal-to-noise ratio, resolution, and inspection speed performance with very limited depth of field lenses.

04-25-2013

20160117847

Signal Response Metrology For Image Based And Scatterometry Overlay Measurements - Methods and systems for measuring overlay error between structures formed on a substrate by successive lithographic processes are presented herein. Two overlay targets, each having programmed offsets in opposite directions are employed to perform an overlay measurement. Overlay error is measured based on zero order scatterometry signals and scatterometry data is collected from each target at two different azimuth angles. In addition, methods and systems for creating an image-based measurement model based on measured, image-based training data are presented. The trained, image-based measurement model is then used to calculate values of one or more parameters of interest directly from measured image data collected from other wafers. The methods and systems for image based measurement described herein are applicable to both metrology and inspection applications.

04-28-2016

20120113247

Lighting Device For Alignment And Exposure Device Having The Same - A ring shape lighting device, used for lighting the mark around the CCD camera, has a lighting device, a lighting brightness control device, a lighting height control device, a lighting color control device and a controller. The controller controls these devices and detects the marks using the CCD camera, by changing the lighting brightness at 1 percent step from 1 to 100 percent with different combinations of lighting height and lighting color. The device detects the mark contrasts using a contrast detection/determination device and detects the variance using a variance detection/determination device. The device then determines the best lighting condition based on the variance.

COMPONENT MOUNT SYSTEM - A component mount system includes: a component placing unit; an inspection unit; a repair station; an image display device; a defective portion image display unit configured to display an image of a defective portion of a board on the image display device; an input device; and a repair required portion display unit configured to display a defective portion detected by the inspection unit, which is indicated as a true defective portion in a determination result input through the input device and selected from the defective portion detected by the inspection unit, as a repair required portion on the image display device. The image display device is provided at a location where an operator who performs a repair work can watch the image displayed on the image display device, and the input device is provided at a location where the operator can operate the input device.

05-19-2011

20120133760

OPTICAL INSPECTION SYSTEM AND METHOD - An inspection system includes optics, an object support for mounting an object in a region of an object plane of the optics, a bright-field light source, and a dark-field light source. The inspection system also includes an image detector having a radiation sensitive substrate disposed in a region of an image plane of the optics and a beam dump.

ENHANCED ILLUMINATION CONTROL FOR THREE-DIMENSIONAL IMAGING - A system for sensing a three-dimensional topology of a circuit board is provided. An illumination source generates patterned illumination from a first point of view. At least one camera acquires an image of the patterned illumination from a second point of view. A controller is coupled to the source, and to the at least one camera. The controller generates a height topology of the circuit board based on images acquired from first and second image detectors of the patterned illumination. The characteristics of the pattern illumination are modified based on knowledge of the circuit board to enhance the dynamic range of the sensor and to reject image defects caused by multipath reflections.

10-30-2014

20130342677

VISION TESTING DEVICE USING MULTIGRID PATTERN - Provided is a vision testing device using a multigrid pattern for determining good or bad of a testing object by photographing the testing object assembled or mounted during the component assembly process and comparing the photographed image with a previously inputted target image, comprising: a stage part for fixing or transferring the testing object to the testing location; a lighting part for providing lighting to the testing object located on an upper portion of the stage part; a center camera part for obtaining a 2-dimensional image of the testing object located in a center of the lighting part; a irradiating part placed on a side section of the center camera part; a vision processing unit for reading the image photographed by the center camera part and determining good or bad of the testing object; and a control unit for controlling the stage part, the grid pattern irradiating part, the center camera part, wherein the grid pattern irradiating part irradiates grid patterns having periods of different intervals.

12-26-2013

20160042506

Method For Locating A Unit In An Assembly - The present embodiments disclose a method for locating a unit in an assembly. According to the embodiments, a unit in an assembly is located. An identification of the target unit in the assembly is obtained. An image of at least a part of the assembly is acquired. The image includes a visual code associated with the part. The visual code is decoded to obtain an identification of at least one unit in the part. It is determined if the target unit is included in the part responsive to identification of a match of the target unit with the identification of the at least one unit. There is further disclosed a corresponding apparatus, assembly, and fault diagnosis device.

System and Method for Aligning a Wafer for Fabrication - Described are computer-based methods and apparatuses, including computer program products, for aligning a wafer for fabrication. A first image of a first portion of a wafer is received from a first image capturing device. A second image of a second portion of the wafer is received from a second image capturing device, wherein an image capturing device transform defines a first relationship between the first image capturing device and the second image capturing device. A first fiducial pattern in the first image and a second fiducial pattern in the second image are identified, based on the image capturing device transform, a fiducial transform that defines, based on a specification for the wafer, a second relationship between the first fiducial pattern and the second fiducial pattern, and a threshold value configured to identify low contrast fiducial patterns on wafers. An alignment of the wafer is determined based on the identified first and second fiducial patterns.

02-21-2013

20150054940

QUALIFYING PATTERNS FOR MICROLITHOGRAPHY - Disclosed are methods and apparatus for qualifying a photolithographic reticle. A reticle inspection tool is used to acquire at least two images at different imaging configurations from each pattern area of the reticle. A reticle pattern is reconstructed based on each at least two images from each pattern area of the reticle. For each reconstructed reticle pattern, a lithographic process with two or more different process conditions is modeled on such reconstructed reticle pattern to generate two or more corresponding modeled test wafer patterns. Each two or more modelled test wafer patterns is analyzed to identify hot spot patterns of the reticle patterns that are susceptible to the different process conditions altering wafer patterns formed with such hot spot patterns.

IMAGE TRANSMISSION METHOD AND IMAGE TRANSMISSION APPARATUS - An image transmission method, from an image sensor which collects a fixed number of pixel data items obtained by a plurality of imaging elements into a data block, and outputs the pixel data items, including a transmission region setting step of setting an interest region by using a unit lower than the fixed number, a region extension step of extending the interest region to obtain an extension interest region in which the data block is represented as a unit and obtaining extension ranges from the interest region to the extension interest region, an imaging step of performing imaging with the image sensor, an output step of outputting the data block included in the extension interest region from the image sensor, and an extension range erasing step of erasing pixel data of the extension ranges from the output data block so as to obtain an image of the interest region.

11-27-2014

20140347465

READY FOR ROTATION STATE DETECTION DEVICE, METHOD OF DETECTING READY FOR ROTATION STATE AND SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS - A ready for rotation state detection device is configured to detect a state in which a substrate, which is placed on a concave portion formed in a surface of a turntable, will not fly out of the concave portion when the turntable is rotated in a chamber. The ready for rotation state detection device includes a ready for rotation state detection unit configured to detect that a height of a surface of an end of the substrate is equal to or lower than a predetermined value indicating that the turntable is rotatable, upon receiving the substrate on the concave portion.

11-27-2014

20100194877

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IMAGING AN ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT - A system and a method for imaging an electrical circuit, the method includes: selectively activating an image sensor and introducing a mechanical movement between the electrical circuit and the image sensor so as to acquire multiple mutually parallel strips of elongated irregular hexagonal frames of portions of the electrical circuit; wherein two elongated edges of each elongated irregular hexagonal frame are substantially longer than other edges of the elongated irregular hexagonal frame.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INSPECTING PATTERNS FORMED ON A SUBSTRATE - The pattern inspection apparatus of the present invention performs comparison between images of regions corresponding to patterns formed to be same patterns, thereby determining mismatch portions across the images to be defects. The apparatus includes multiple sensors that synchronously acquire images of shiftable multiple detection systems different from one another, and an image comparator section corresponding thereto. In addition, the apparatus includes a means for detecting a statistical offset value from the feature amount to be a defect, thereby properly detecting the defect even when a brightness difference is occurring in association with film a thickness difference in a wafer.

11-21-2013

20140313317

HANDLER FOR TESTING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CHECKING WHETHER SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE REMAINS USING THE SAME - A handler for testing semiconductor device is disclosed. The handler for testing semiconductor device includes a socket plate having a test socket to be electrically connected to a tester, a device feeder configured to feed a semiconductor device to the test socket or recover the semiconductor device from the test socket, a camera obtaining an image of the test socket, a sensor sensing an exposing moment that at least one photographing area among photographing areas on the test socket is exposed to the camera, while the device feeder moves, and a controller configured to operate the camera to take a photograph at the exposing moment and to determine whether a semiconductor device remains in the test socket, using the image obtained by the camera.

SUBSTRATE POSITION DETECTION APPARATUS, FILM DEPOSITION APPARATUS EQUIPPED WITH THE SAME, AND SUBSTRATE POSITION DETECTION METHOD - A substrate position detection method includes rotating the susceptor so that the substrate receiving portion is moved into an image taking area of a imaging apparatus; detecting first two position detection marks provided in the process chamber so that the first two position detection marks are within the image taking area, wherein a first perpendicular bisector of the first two position detection marks passes through a rotational center of the susceptor; detecting second two position detection marks provided in the susceptor so that the second two position detection marks can be within the image taking area, wherein a second perpendicular bisector of the second two position detection marks passes through the rotational center of the susceptor and a center of the substrate receiving portion; and determining whether the substrate receiving portion is positioned in a predetermined range in accordance with the detected first two and second two position detection marks.

03-29-2012

20100201802

RESIN COMPOSITION AND USE THEREOF - The resin composition includes a color pigment (A) and a curable resin (B) and gives a cured film satisfying the following requirements (I), (II), (III), (IV) and (V): (I) the maximum transmittance of light having wavelengths of 500 nm to 550 nm is not less than 90%; (II) the minimum transmittance of light having wavelengths of 600 nm to 650 nm is less than 80%; (III) the maximum reflectance of light having wavelengths of 500 nm to 550 nm is less than 12%; (IV) the minimum reflectance of light having wavelengths of 600 nm to 650 nm is less than 7%; (V) the 60° gloss value measured with white light is not less than 80.

08-12-2010

20110157352

INFRARED DIRECT ILLUMINATION MACHINE VISION TECHNIQUE FOR SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING EQUIPMENT - A vision system is provided to determine a positional relationship between a semiconductor wafer on a platen and an element on a processing machine, such as a printing screen, on a remote side of the semiconductor wafer from the platen. A source directs infrared light through an aperture in the platen to illuminate the semiconductor wafer and cast a shadow onto the element adjacent an edge of the semiconductor wafer. A video camera produces an image using light received from the platen aperture, wherein some of that received light was reflected by the wafer. The edge of the semiconductor wafer in the image is well defined by a dark/light transition.

LOCK IN THERMAL LASER STIMULATION THROUGH ONE SIDE OF THE DEVICE WHILE ACQUIRING LOCK-IN THERMAL EMISSION IMAGES ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE - Controlled amount of heat is injected into a stacked die using a light beam, and the propagated heat is measuring with LIT camera from the other side of the die. The thermal image obtained can be characterized so that it can be used to calibrate the phase shift from a given stack layer, or can be used to identify defects in the stacked die. The process can be repeated for each die in the stack to generate a reference for future testing. The thermal image can be investigated to detect faults, such as voids in vias, e.g., TSV.

07-31-2014

20140055599

INSPECTION DEVICE, BONDING SYSTEM AND INSPECTION METHOD - An inspection device for inspecting the interior of an overlapped substrate produced by bonding one substrate and another substrate, comprising: a first holding unit configured to hold the rear surface of the overlapped substrate and include a cutout formed to expose a portion of the rear surface of the overlapped substrate when viewed from the top; a second holding unit configured to hold and rotate the overlapped substrate; an infrared irradiator configured to irradiate the rear surface or front surface exposed from the cutout of the overlapped substrate held on the first holding unit with an infrared ray; and an image pickup unit configured to receive the infrared ray emitted from the infrared irradiator and image the overlapped substrate held on the first holding unit in division for each of regions exposed from the cutout.

02-27-2014

20140055598

SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENT MOUNTING APPARATUS - A semiconductor component mounting apparatus includes an image sensing unit, electrode detection unit, and determination unit. The image sensing unit is configured to obtain image data of a plurality of electrodes arranged on a mounting surface of a semiconductor component. The electrodes are divided into a plurality of groups based upon functions of the electrodes. The electrode detection unit is configured to identify the electrodes in each of the groups, and to detect, for each of the electrodes, whether the electrode is lacking or not by using the image data. Each of the groups has a preset permissible number of lacking electrodes. The determination unit is configured to determine, based on the number of the lacking electrodes detected by the electrode detection unit and the permissible number of lacking electrodes preset to the group, whether the semiconductor component is a defective or a non-defective.

02-27-2014

20140362208

HIGH THROUGHPUT AND LOW COST HEIGHT TRIANGULATION SYSTEM AND METHOD - A triangulation system comprising an area camera, a communication interface, a first image processing module, a second image processing module; wherein the area camera is arranged to obtain, at an acquisition rate, a stream of images of illuminated regions of an object; wherein the area camera is prevented from performing height calculations; wherein the communication interface is arranged to convey, in real time thereby in correspondence to the acquisition rate, the stream of images from the area camera to the first image processing module; wherein the first image processing module is arranged to process, in real time, the stream of images to provide first compressed information; wherein the second image processing module is arranged to process, at a non-real time image processing rate, the first compressed information to provide height information indicative of heights of at least the illuminated regions of the object.

12-11-2014

20140184782

SYSTEM OF MEASURING WARPAGE AND METHOD OF MEASURING WARPAGE - Disclosed herein are a system for measuring a warpage and a method for measuring a warpage. The system for measuring a warpage includes: a heating plate portion heating the sample; and a reference gating portion disposed between the sample and the camera so as to be spaced apart from the sample by a predetermined distance, wherein the reference grating portion includes a plurality of wires that are each spaced apart from each other by a predetermined interval, thereby accurately measuring the warpage without being affected by the fume generated from the sample.

07-03-2014

20160098837

Substrate Inspection Apparatus and Control Method Thereof - A method of controlling a substrate inspection apparatus, which includes a stage configured to mount a substrate thereon and move in first and second moving directions and a camera configured to photograph the stage. The method includes: calculating in each quadrant divided by X and Y axis defining a coordinate system of an image photographed by the camera, a deviation of the X axis in a rotational direction with respect to the first moving direction or a deviation of the Y axis in the rotational direction with respect to the second moving direction; correcting a position of a photographed target in the coordinate system of the image photographed by the camera based on the calculated deviation in the rotational direction; and performing an alignment of the stage based on the corrected position of the target.

04-07-2016

20160098828

WAFER INSPECTION METHOD AND WAFER INSPECTION APPARATUS - A wafer inspection method includes a step of picking up an image of a processed face of a wafer, a step of extracting a pixel having a pixel value higher than those of peripheral pixels as a characteristic point from among pixels in each predetermined region of picked up image data to create a first image, and a step of extracting a pixel having a pixel value lower than those of peripheral pixels as a characteristic point from among the pixels in each predetermined region of the picked up image data to create a second image. The first and second images are used to inspect the processed face of the wafer.

ON-AXIS FOCUS SENSOR AND METHOD - A focus height sensor in an optical system for inspection of semiconductor devices includes a sensor beam source that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation. A reflector receives the beam of electromagnetic radiation from the sensor beam source and directs the beam toward a surface of a semiconductor device positioned within a field of view of the optical system. The reflector is positioned to receive at least a portion of the beam back from the surface of the semiconductor device to direct the returned beam to a sensor. The sensor receives the returned beam and outputs a signal correlating to a position of the surface within the field of view along an optical axis of the optical system.

12-18-2014

20100020167

Image Capture, Alignment, and Registration - Embodiments of the present invention enable image capture, alignment, and registration. Certain applications of the present invention are its use in various embodiments of a system for inspection of a printed circuit board (“PCB”) substrate. In embodiments, an image capture system comprising a camera and a two-dimensional surface supporting an image may be calibrated based on configuration parameters of an image to be captured and of a simulated reference bitmap based on the image. In embodiments, the position of the image to be captured on the two-dimensional surface is determined based on calibration parameters. In embodiments, a sequence of images may be captured of sections of an image that cannot be captured in a single scan. A scan path across the image may be determined that is based in part on calibration parameters. In embodiments, consistency of quality of captured images is maintained by validating selected characteristics of each image as it is being captured and by validating the alignment of each captured image with a corresponding simulated reference bitmap.

01-28-2010

20140240486

SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS, MONITORING DEVICE OF SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND MONITORING METHOD OF SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS - Disclosed is monitoring device of monitoring a state of a substrate processing process in a substrate processing apparatus. The monitoring device includes: an imaging unit configured to image a processing state of the substrate processing process; a storage unit; a storage control unit configured to store a moving picture imaged by the imaging unit after adding a time stamp to the moving picture; a group classification unit configured to group a plurality of moving pictures stored in the storage unit into moving pictures of a normal group and moving pictures of a group other than the normal group; and a threshold generation unit configured to generate a threshold for detecting an abnormal moving picture based on the moving pictures of the normal group grouped by the group classification unit.

08-28-2014

20130182100

DEFECT INSPECTION SYSTEM - A defect inspection system can suppress an effect of light from a rough surface or a circuit pattern and increasing a gain of light from a defect to detect the defect with high sensitivity. When a lens with a large NA value is used, the diameter is 10

07-18-2013

20130182101

Generating a Wafer Inspection Process Using Bit Failures and Virtual Inspection - Methods and systems for generating a wafer inspection process are provided. One method includes storing output of detector(s) of an inspection system during scanning of a wafer regardless of whether the output corresponds to defects detected on the wafer and separating physical locations on the wafer that correspond to bit failures detected by testing of the wafer into a first portion of the physical locations at which the defects were not detected and a second portion of the physical locations at which the defects were detected. In addition, the method includes applying defect detection method(s) to the stored output corresponding to the first portion of the physical locations to detect defects at the first portion of the physical locations and generating a wafer inspection process based on the defects detected by the defect detection method(s) at the first portion of the physical locations.

07-18-2013

20140240485

DEVICE FOR ASSEMBLING PHOTOELECTRIC ELEMENT ONTO SUBSTRATE - A device for applying conductive glue and assembling a glued photoelectric element on a substrate operates a vacuum-lift nozzle, a driver, a first camera module, a second camera module, and a third camera module. The first, second, and third camera modules take images of the photoelectric element on a supply tray, check for absence of tilt during a dipping into the conductive glue, and supervise the accurate positioning of the photoelectric element onto a substrate on an output tray.

08-28-2014

20140267683

METHOD OF FABRICATING A LIGHT EMITTING DIODE DISPLAY WITH INTEGRATED DEFECT DETECTION TEST - A display panel and method of manufacture are described. In an embodiment, a display substrate includes a pixel area and a non-pixel area. An array of subpixels and corresponding array of bottom electrodes are in the pixel area. An array of micro LED devices are bonded to the array of bottom electrodes. One or more top electrode layers are formed in electrical contact with the array of micro LED devices. In one embodiment a redundant pair of micro LED devices are bonded to the array of bottom electrodes. In one embodiment, the array of micro LED devices are imaged to detect irregularities.

09-18-2014

20140267682

LINEAR/ANGULAR CORRECTION OF PICK-AND-PLACE HELD COMPONENT AND RELATED OPTICAL SUBSYSTEM - A pick-and-place machine and method includes use of a passive component feeder cartridge including a feeder gear. Rotation of the feeder gear causes a component-bearing tape to be fed through the feeder cartridge. A pickup head includes a vacuum nozzle to pick up the components from the tape and a rack gear to engage and drive the feeder gear of the feeder cartridge via translational motion of the pickup head when operatively disposed with respect to a selected feeder cartridge.

09-18-2014

20110025838

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INSPECTING DEFECTS IN WAFER - An object of the present invention is to simplify the defect inspection of an internal defect and front and rear surface defects in a wafer. A defect inspection method of the present invention includes: a first imaging step of taking a transmitted image of a wafer

02-03-2011

20160125590

Wafer Appearance Inspection Apparatus - Provided is a wafer appearance inspection apparatus that can segmentize an inspection target region, enable expedited execution of an operation to set a sensitivity threshold to each region, and enhance the inspection efficiency. Pattern matching between the image region of a part of a standard wafer, which is defined as a template region, and the entire image region of the standard wafer is performed to compute an image editing value. The computed image editing value is used to edit an inspection target image. A region for which a threshold is to be set can be automatically confirmed by roughly specifying the region from among edited image regions displayed on the display. The confirmed region and a similar pattern region are searched and displayed. When the similar region is selected, the initial sensitivity threshold is displayed, and a change is made on an as-needed basis. The region of the set sensitivity threshold is displayed by the display color corresponding to the determined threshold. Inspection is executed according to the set threshold.

05-05-2016

20160125583

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AUTOMATICALLY VERIFYING CORRECT DIE REMOVAL FROM FILM FRAMES - A skeleton wafer inspection system includes an expansion table displaceable relative to a camera configured for capturing segmental images of a skeleton wafer on a film frame. During segmental image capture, illumination is directed to the top and/or bottom of the film frame. Segmental images are digitally stitched together to pro duce a composite image, which can be processed to identify die presence or absence therein at active area die positions having counterpart die positions in a process wafer map. A composite image of a diced wafer on a film frame can also be generated, and used as a navigation aid or guide during die sort operations, or to verify whether a die sort apparatus has correctly detected a reference die prior to die sort operations. A composite image of a skeleton wafer can similarly be generated for use as a navigation aid or guide for film frame repopulation operations.

05-05-2016

20110164129

METHOD AND A SYSTEM FOR CREATING A REFERENCE IMAGE USING UNKNOWN QUALITY PATTERNS - A method and a system for preparing a pattern's reference-model to be used for automatic inspection of surface are disclosed. The system according to the present invention is comprised of an imaging device that captured images of plurality of the patters; a dedicated software that uses dedicated algorithms to correct and align the captured images; and a controller operative for collecting the same located and same coincident pixel of each of the images; choosing, according to predetermined criteria, one of the collected pixels; creating a new image with same dimensions as the captured images and locating the chosen pixel in the same place corresponding to the place of the collected pixels in the origin images; repeating the process as defined above for each pixel of the captured images; and providing the new created image as a reference model for inspecting the pattern.

07-07-2011

20100118135

IMAGE CAPTURING DEVICE ASSEMBLY FOR USE WITH TEST PROBE - An image capturing device assembly for use with a test probe and a testing system. The image capturing device assembly including an image capturing device module configured for coupling to an external surface of the test probe and having an image capturing device housed within. The image capturing device is configured to generate a digital output video signal or the analog output video signal of a testing site. A digital monitor is coupled to the image capturing device via a wired or wireless link and configured to receive the digital output signal and generate a display of the testing site on the display monitor.

05-13-2010

20130021465

Simultaneous wafer ID reading - The present invention discloses apparatuses and methods for simultaneous viewing and reading top and bottom images from a workpiece. The present ID reader can comprise an enclosure covering a top and bottom section of the workpiece with optical elements to guide the light from the workpiece images to a camera. The optical element can be disposed to receive images from a high angle with respect to the surface of the workpiece. The present ID reader can further comprise a light source assembly to illuminate the image. The light source assembly can utilize a coaxial light path with the images, preferably for bright field illumination. The light source assembly can also utilize a non-coaxial light path, preferably for dark field illumination.

SELF-LEARNING MACHINE VISION SYSTEM - Embodiments of the invention include systems and methods relating to self-learning machine vision systems. In an embodiment, the invention includes a self-learning machine vision system including a video input; a processor in communication with the video input; and a video output in communication with the processor. The processor is configured to process video data from the video input and identify a number of repeating units within the video data. The processor is further configured to identify repeating units that deviate from the other repeating units. The system can further display an image of the repeating units through the video output with indicia to indicate identified deviant repeating units. In an embodiment, the invention includes a method of identifying defects in a stream of produced items including processing video data from a video input with a computing system; identifying a number of repeating units within the video data; identifying repeating units that deviate from the other repeating units by comparing the repeating with one another; and displaying an image of the repeating units through a video output with indicia to indicate identified deviant repeating units. Other embodiments are also included herein.

10-24-2013

20130278749

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING HETERODYNE LOCK-IN IMAGING AND QUANTITATIVE NON-CONTACT MEASUREMENTS OF ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES - Methods are provided for producing optical carrierographic images of a semiconductor sample. Focused and spatially overlapped optical beams excite carriers across within the semiconductor sample, where the optical beams are modulated such that a beat frequency is substantially less than either modulation frequency. An infrared detector detects infrared radiation emitted from the semiconductor sample in response to absorption of the optical beams, thereby obtaining a plurality of carrierographic signals at different points in time during at least one beat period, which are processed with a lock-in amplifier, with a reference signal at the beat frequency, to obtain an amplitude signal and a phase signal. Carrierographic lock-in images of the sample are obtained in a scanning configuration, or in an imaging format using an imaging detector. The images carry quantitative information about recombination lifetimes in substrate Si wafers and electrical parameters in solar cells, namely photogeneration current density, diode saturation current density, ideality factor, and maximum power photovoltage.

10-24-2013

20130278748

PATTERN MATCHING METHOD AND APPARATUS - When the degree of matching between patterns decreases due to a pattern fluctuation or an appearance fluctuation that has occurred during manufacturing steps, a heavy work burden would be placed on an operator. A data processing unit of a pattern matching apparatus calculates a threshold for determination of matching between a first template image and a partial region of a search target image obtained by capturing an image of the surface of a sample, on the basis of a result of evaluation of a similarity between the search target image and a second template image, the second template image having been captured in a wider range than the first template image.

10-24-2013

20110141268

SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND METHOD OF VISUAL INSPECTION AND APPARATUS FOR VISUAL INSPECTION - A semiconductor device having the structure, which is adopted for the highly precise visual inspection with a lower cost, is achieved. A semiconductor device is a semiconductor device having a region for forming an electric circuit, and includes seal rings provided in an interconnect layer and surrounding the region for forming an electric circuit, and a dummy metal via provided in the interconnect layer and located outside of the seal rings. In a cross section perpendicular to an elongating direction of the seal ring, the width of the dummy metal via is smaller than the width of the seal ring.

06-16-2011

20130021464

ASYMMETRIC PATTERN PROJECTION APPARATUS - An apparatus for inspection of a surface of a device comprises a projection module operative to project a pattern along a projection axis of the projection module onto the device. An imaging module receives an image of the pattern reflected from the device along an imaging axis of the imaging module onto an image sensor. A lens comprised in the imaging module has a first magnification in a first direction orthogonal to the imaging axis and a second magnification different from the first magnification in a second direction orthogonal to both the first direction and the imaging axis, which produces different fields of view of the image sensor and resolutions of the image in the first and second directions.

01-24-2013

20150054941

IMAGE CAPTURING DEVICE AND INSPECTION APPARATUS AND INSPECTION METHOD - An image capturing device comprising, a light source configured to emit light having a predetermined wavelength, a polarization beamsplitter configured to receive the light from the light source, a Faraday rotator configured to rotate a polarization plane of the light via the polarization beamsplitter by changing the intensity of the magnetic field, an objective lens configured to illuminate an inspection target with the light transmitted through the Faraday rotator and a sensor configured to capture an optical image of the inspection target by causing the light reflected by the inspection target to be incident through the objective lens, the Faraday rotator, and the polarization beamsplitter.

02-26-2015

20150130925

CONTACTLESS COMPONENT-INSPECTING APPARATUS AND COMPONENT-INSPECTING METHOD - A contactless component-inspecting apparatus captures, using a camera, images of an object to be inspected that is assembled or mounted during a component assembly process and compares the captured image and a previously inputted image to determine whether the object passes or fails the inspection. The contactless component-inspecting apparatus comprises: a stage unit on which the object to be inspected is mounted, and which fixes or transfers the object to be inspected in/to an inspection location; a lighting unit including a color lighting portion for irradiating the object to be inspected with at least four types of visual light having different wavelength ranges, wherein a first white lighting portion is arranged on the color lighting portion so as to irradiate the object to be inspected with white light, and a second white lighting portion arranged beneath the color lighting portion so as to irradiate the object to be inspected with white light; a camera arranged above the lighting unit so as to capture images of the object to be inspected; an image-processing unit which reads the image captured by the camera so as to determine whether the object to be inspected passes or fails the inspection; and a control unit including a motion controller for controlling the stage unit and the camera unit.

05-14-2015

20120019650

INSTALLATION OF OPTICAL INSPECTION OF ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS - An installation of optical inspection of integrated circuits or the like, comprising: a planar conveyor along a first direction of the objects to be analyzed and a photographic system placed above an area of the conveyor and in a fixed position with respect thereto, the photographic system comprising at least one first set of digital cameras each comprising an orthogonal array of pixels, said cameras being aligned in a second direction different from the first one, the cameras being all oriented so that one of the orthogonal directions of their pixel array forms a first angle with the first direction.

01-26-2012

20150029330

ELECTRONIC COMPONENT MOUNTING APPARATUS AND ELECTRONIC COMPONENT MOUNTING METHOD - In a control unit of an electronic component mounting apparatus, when an imaging form of a component imaging unit is set to a first mode, a component recognition unit recognizes a first electronic component based on an imaged image due to a first imaging element of the component imaging unit, and recognizes a second electronic component based on an imaged image due to a second imaging element of the component imaging unit. Meanwhile, when the imaging form is set to a second mode, the component recognition unit recognizes the electronic components based on an image in which the imaged image by the first imaging element is combined with the imaged image by the second imaging element.

01-29-2015

20120007978

Method and Apparatus For Examining A Semiconductor Wafer - The edges of semiconductor wafers are examined by an imaging method and the positions and forms of defects on the edge are determined, and in addition, a ring-shaped region on the flat area of the semiconductor wafer, the outer margin of which is ≦10 mm from the edge, is examined by means of photoelastic stress measurement and the positions of stressed regions in the ring-shaped region are determined, wherein the positions of the defects and the positions of the stressed regions are compared with one another, and the defects are classified in classes on the basis of their form and the results of the photoelastic stress measurement.

01-12-2012

20150029329

ELECTRONIC COMPONENT MOUNTING APPARATUS AND ELECTRONIC COMPONENT MOUNTING METHOD - A component imaging unit of an electronic component mounting apparatus has three area cameras, and each of visual fields are common to each other regardless of the area cameras. When the imaging form of the component imaging unit is set to a first mode, a component recognition unit recognizes the electronic components held by the holding unit, based on an image imaged by one area camera. Meanwhile, when the imaging form is set to a second mode, in the component imaging unit, the component recognition unit recognizes the electronic component held by the holding unit, based on each of images, each of which is imaged by three area cameras.

01-29-2015

20090309965

TESTING METHOD, TESTING AND PROCESSING SYSTEM, PROCESSING DEVICE, TESTING DEVICE, MANUFACTURING/TESTING DEVICE, AND MANUFACTURING/TESTING METHOD - An inspecting method for grasping the inspection result on an intermediate (or an n-th) treatment without long extension of time, in case predetermined treatments of a predetermined number (N times) are exerted on a plurality of sheets running on a conveyor line, before all the treatments of N-times are ended. The inspecting method for inspecting an object subjected to the predetermined treatment includes performing the predetermined treatment repeatedly by the N-times (N: a natural number of 2 or more) sequentially on the individual objects being conveyed on the conveyor line, and an inspecting step of testing such a leading one of the objects as has been subjected to the n-th (n: a natural number of 1 or more but N or less) treatment, and returning the tested object to after such one of the targets as was subjected to the n-th treatment.

12-17-2009

20130016205

Die BonderAANM MAKITA; YoshiakiAACI KumagayaAACO JPAAGP MAKITA; Yoshiaki Kumagaya JPAANM Fukasawa; ShingoAACI KumagayaAACO JPAAGP Fukasawa; Shingo Kumagaya JP - A die bonder that eliminates the need for moving a recognition camera for capturing an image related to adhesive application and achieves high reliability with high throughput is disclosed. The die bonder includes a lead frame; a syringe located above the lead frame and enclosing therein a paste adhesive; a recognition camera lateral to the syringe; an illumination lamp disposed in the vicinity of the recognition camera; and a reflector plate disposed opposite the illumination lamp. The reflector plate is adapted to reflect light from the illumination lamp onto the lead frame at an application surface of the paste adhesive. The recognition camera, illumination lamp, and reflector plate are arranged in a manner that the reflector plate is disposed on −Y side and the recognition camera and the illumination lamp are disposed on +Y side with respect to the syringe located above the lead frame transported in X direction.

01-17-2013

20130100277

WORKBENCH FOR MANUFACTURING OR CHECKING ELECTRICAL WIRING HARNESSES - A workbench and an assistance method for manufacturing or checking electrical wiring harnesses. The workbench comprises: an assembly board; image projection devices on the assembly board; optical sensors arranged on the assembly board to provide information about its position; cameras arranged to capture gestures of the technician in charge of the workbench; a computer with a set of computer programs adapted to provide, through the image projection devices images in 1:1 scale of templates of the electrical wiring harness being manufactured or checked projected onto the assembly board and, superimposed on them, complementary images of aid requested by the technician, acting on virtual menus and/or buttons projected onto the assembly board.

04-25-2013

20130016206

DEVICE AND METHOD FOR EDGE- AND SURFACE INSPECITON - A device for edge- and surface inspection of flat objects, particularly patterned, sawn, broken, or partial wafers, and wafers of any kind on film frames, dies, displays, glass-ceramic or metal samples or batches of such materials, Die waffle packs, and multichip modules, comprises an inspection head, with an object lens and a bright field illumination unit having a light source and an optical assembly, wherein light generated by said light source is directed by said optical assembly towards said object with an angle of incidence for illuminating said object and wherein said light is reflected from said object in the direction of said object lens; and a support for supporting said object at said edge, said support having several support arms along said edge, wherein at least one of said support arms is removable from said edge while the edge is inspected in the range of said removable support arm.

APPARATUS AND METHOD TO ESTIMATE THE POTENTIAL EFFICIENCY OF A POLYCRYSTALLINE SOLAR CELL - A method for estimating the efficiency of a solar cell to be manufactured from a wafer is disclosed, wherein the efficiency estimate is obtained from a density of crystallite boundaries on a surface of the wafer. In embodiments the density of crystallite boundaries is obtained from a digital image of the surface of the wafer, from which first a filtered image, and then a binary image is generated. The binary image is evaluated to obtain the density of crystallite boundaries. Alternatively, the efficiency estimate is obtained from the sizes of crystallites on the surface of the wafer. An apparatus for obtaining the efficiency estimate is also disclosed.

COMPONENT MOUNTING METHOD AND COMPONENT MOUNTER - A component mounting method includes: identifying, by image processing, a dark color region from image data obtained by imaging a two-dimensional region including a pickup face of a component to be picked up; deriving position data indicating a position of the identified dark color region; and deriving, based on the derived position data, a pickup position indicating a position at which a nozzle picks up the component. The imaging is performed by an imaging unit, and the dark color region indicates a dark color portion between electrodes of the component.

03-07-2013

20120013730

SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS, SUBSTRATE PROCESSING METHOD AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER STORAGE MEDIUM - A substrate processing apparatus includes: a holding unit holding a substrate; a rotation driving unit rotating the substrate held on the holding unit; a moving mechanism moving the holding unit between a delivery position and an edge exposure position; an exposure unit provided on the edge exposure position side and exposing an edge portion of a coating film above the substrate held on the holding unit; an image capturing unit provided on the edge exposure position side and above the exposure unit and capturing an image of the substrate held on the holding unit; and a direction change unit changing a direction of an optical path formed between the substrate held on the holding unit and the image capturing unit. The direction change unit includes a first reflecting mirror, a second reflecting mirror, and a third reflecting mirror.

01-19-2012

20150294449

DETECT EDGE CHIP - A system includes a support platform, a light source, a computing device coupled to the stage and the camera. The support platform is configured to support and move a wafer, and the light source is configured to shine an illuminating light on the wafer. The computing device is configured to detect a defect of the wafer by processing the acquired image and determining whether a signal of the acquired image is greater than a threshold. If the computing device detects the presence of the defect, the computing device is configured to generate an alarm.

10-15-2015

20120086797

METHOD OF DETECTING PATTERN FORMED ON NON-EXPOSED SURFACE OF WORKPIECE - A method of detecting an object of detection formed in the inside of or on a non-exposed surface of a workpiece having a rugged exposed surface, the detection being made on the exposed surface side of the workpiece by use of an imaging unit. The detecting method includes: a flattening step of coating the exposed surface of the workpiece with a liquid resin transmissive to the wavelength of light to be detected by the imaging unit so as to flatten the exposed surface of the workpiece; and a detecting step of detecting the object of detection formed in the inside of or on the non-exposed surface of the workpiece by use of the imaging unit on the exposed surface side of the workpiece coated with the liquid resin, after the flattening step.

04-12-2012

20130147942

ALIGNMENT METHOD FOR ASSEMBLING SUBSTRATES IN DIFFERENT SPACES WITHOUT FIDUCIAL MARK AND ITS SYSTEM - An alignment method for assembling substrates in different spaces without fiducial mark and its system are provided, and the alignment method has steps of: pre-defining partially standard character regions of two substrates; capturing at least two partially actual images of two substrates in different waiting spaces, respectively; comparing to obtain at least two partially actual character regions of the two substrates, respectively; building actual coordinate systems of the two substrates, respectively; comparing the actual coordinate systems of the two substrates with each other to obtain a set of offset values; moving the two substrates from the different waiting spaces to an alignment-and-installation space based on the set of offset values and a predetermined movement value, respectively; and stacking the two substrates with each other to finish the alignment and installation in the alignment-and-installation space.

06-13-2013

20120162405

IMAGE GENERATING APPARATUS AND IMAGE GENERATING METHOD - An image generating apparatus includes: a lighting apparatus that emits illumination light to an imaging area where at least a part of an electronic component is located; an imaging apparatus that images the imaging area irradiated with the illumination light; and an image processing apparatus that processes a captured image obtained by the imaging. The image processing apparatus generates a before-adjustment image based on the captured image, generates an adjusted image by adjusting luminance of the before-adjustment image, and generates an optimal image by setting a difference in average luminance between a designated area and a comparison area in the adjusted image largest.

06-28-2012

20130169789

OPTICAL INSPECTING SYSTEM - An optical inspecting system for inspecting a surface of a solar cell chip includes a housing, a control device, an image capturing device and a lighting device configured in the housing. The lighting device provides monochromatic lights on the solar cell chip, and the image capturing device captures the image of the solar cell chip. The control device is electrically connected to the image capturing device and the lighting device for controlling the optical inspecting system to perform defect and color inspecting processes on the surface of the solar cell chip. By the communication among the image capturing device, the lighting device, and the control device, images with different resolutions can be obtained according to different inspecting processes, and monochrome sensor array can be used for decreasing error.

07-04-2013

20130162808

COMPONENT MOUNTING DEVICE, A COMPONENT MOUNTING METHOD, AN IMAGING DEVICE AND AN IMAGING METHOD - A first illuminating devices, when the component adsorbed by an adsorbing nozzle and located in an imaging field of vision is a surface mounted component, illuminate the bottom surface of a component by irradiating light to the component obliquely from below, and a second illuminating device, when the component adsorbed by the adsorbing nozzle and located in the imaging field of vision is a through hole component, only illuminate the downwards extending parts of the component by irradiating light at an irradiation angle closer to a horizontal direction irradiation than the irradiation angle of the light of the first illuminating device to the component are included. That the component is illuminated by the first illuminating devices and that the component is illuminated by the second illuminating devices are switched based on whether the component is a surface mounted component or a through hole component.

06-27-2013

20130147943

LIGHTING SYSTEM - A system and method for illuminating an elongated field of view of a linear or high aspect ratio area image sensor comprises providing illumination with an elongated field shape with a plurality of discrete light sources and projecting the illumination toward an object to be imaged; wherein the illumination projected on the object is substantially spatially invariant in intensity and angular distribution along the elongated field shape on the object.

06-13-2013

20120019651

INSTALLATION OF 3D INSPECTION OF ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS - An installation of optical inspection of integrated circuits or the like, comprising: a photographic system placed above a scene in a plane defined by a first and a second direction, the photographic system comprising several digital cameras each comprising an orthogonal array of pixels, all cameras having their respective optical axes inclined by a first angle with respect to a third direction perpendicular to the two others; and two projectors of determined patterns, these patterns being such that two straight lines projected by each of the projectors are aligned in the plane defined by the first two directions and are coplanar with a straight line interconnecting the optical centers of the two projectors.

01-26-2012

20140210993

AUTOMATIC PROGRAMMING OF SOLDER PASTE INSPECTION SYSTEM - A system for measuring solder paste stencil aperture positions and sizes is provided. The system includes at least one camera configured to acquire images of the stencil and an alignment target. A motion system generates relative motion between the at least one camera and the stencil. A controller is coupled to and controls the motion system. The controller is configured to analyze the images to generate aperture information relative to the stencil. The aperture information is provided to automatically program a solder paste inspection system. Other features and benefits that characterize embodiments of the present invention will be apparent upon reading the following detailed description and review of the associated drawings.

07-31-2014

20120062727

PART-MOUNTING SYSTEM - It is an objective to provide a part-mounting system that makes it possible to quickly ascertain a defective judgment location and input a result of judgment of the defective judgment location even if an operator is away from an inspection portion when the inspection portion has found a defective judgment location. An image of a location on a substrate Pb where a print status of solder Sd or a mounted status of parts Pt is judged as being defective by an inspection portion is displayed on all image display portions

03-15-2012

20140232849

INSPECTION METHOD AND INSPECTION APPARATUS - An inspection method and apparatus comprising, a step of reflecting linearly-polarized light having a predetermined wavelength using an non-polarizing beam splitter after transmitting the linearly-polarized light through a half-wave plate, irradiating a sample with the linearly-polarized light having a polarization plane of a predetermined angle, causing the light reflected by the sample to be incident to an image capturing sensor through a lens, the non-polarizing beam splitter, and an analyzer, and acquiring an optical image of a pattern formed on the sample; acquiring a plurality of optical images by changing an angle of the analyzer or the half-wave plate, and obtaining an angle of the analyzer or the half-wave plate such that a value of (σ/√A) becomes a minimum; and a step of inspecting whether a defect of the pattern exists, wherein the pattern is a repetitive pattern having a period at a resolution limit or less.

08-21-2014

20150029328

ELECTRONIC COMPONENT MOUNTING APPARATUS AND ELECTRONIC COMPONENT MOUNTING METHOD - A control unit of an electronic component mounting apparatus controls a component imaging unit so as to move an electronic component that is held by the holding unit, when the holding unit is moved in a direction, which is oblique to a conveyance direction of a substrate and is close to the substrate, by a movement mechanism unit.

01-29-2015

20120081538

PATTERN INSPECTION APPARATUS - This pattern inspection apparatus includes an inspection region information storage unit that stores an inspection region specified in a pattern region, a pattern surface height detection unit that detects a pattern surface height signal corresponding to a pattern surface height measurement position on the inspection sample, an autofocus mechanism that focuses on the inspection sample using the pattern surface height signal detected by the pattern surface height detection unit, a determination unit, and an autofocus mechanism control unit. When the determination unit determines that the pattern surface height measurement position is located within the inspection region, the autofocus mechanism control unit drives the autofocus mechanism, and the determination unit determines that the pattern surface height measurement position is not located within the inspection region, the autofocus mechanism control unit stops the autofocus mechanism.

04-05-2012

20120092484

DEFECT INSPECTION METHOD AND APPARATUS THEREFOR - To effectively utilize the polarization property of an inspection subject for obtaining higher inspection sensitivity, for the polarization of lighting, it is necessary to observe differences in the reflection, diffraction, and scattered light from the inspection subject because of polarization by applying light having the same elevation angle and wavelength in the same direction but different polarization. According to conventional techniques, a plurality of measurements by changing polarizations is required to cause a prolonged inspection time period that is an important specification of inspection apparatuses. In this invention, a plurality of polarization states are modulated in micro areas in the lighting beam cross section, images under a plurality of polarized lighting conditions are collectively acquired by separately and simultaneously forming the scattered light from the individual micro areas in the individual pixels of a sensor, whereby inspection sensitivity and sorting and sizing accuracy are improved without reducing throughput.

04-19-2012

20120086796

COORDINATE FUSION AND THICKNESS CALIBRATION FOR SEMICONDUCTOR WAFER EDGE INSPECTION - A system may include a support configured to rotatably support a wafer. The system may also include an imager for generating an image of a wafer, where the image includes a first coordinate reference. The system may also include a profiler for generating a profile of the wafer, where the profile includes a second coordinate reference. The system may further include control programming for locating at least one structural feature of an edge of the wafer recognizable by both the imager and the profiler for allowing the first coordinate reference to be mapped to the second coordinate reference. The wafer used in calibration may have discrete edge features detectable in an edge imager and in an edge profiler.

04-12-2012

20110310241

INSPECTION SYSTEM AND A METHOD FOR INSPECTING A DICED WAFER - An inspection system and a method for inspecting a diced wafer. The method includes: acquiring multiple images of multiple portions of the diced wafer according to a predefined image acquisition scheme; locating multiple unique features within the multiple images; and assigning a die index to each die of the multiple dice and associating between the multiple dice and multiple reference dice in response to locations of the multiple unique features and to at least one expected die dimension.

12-22-2011

20110102575

HIGH SPEED DISTRIBUTED OPTICAL SENSOR INSPECTION SYSTEM - An electronics assembly line includes a first electronics assembly machine and a second electronics assembly machine. The first electronics assembly machine has a first electronics assembly machine outlet. The second electronics assembly machine has a second electronics assembly machine inlet and outlet. The inlet of the second electronics assembly machine is coupled to the outlet of the first electronics assembly machine by a conveyor. A first optical inspection sensor is disposed over the conveyor before the inlet of the second electronics assembly and is configured to provide first sensor inspection image data relative to a substrate that passes beneath the first optical inspection sensor in a non-stop fashion. A second optical inspection sensor is disposed over the conveyor after the outlet of the second electronics assembly machine and is configured to provide second sensor inspection image data relative to a substrate that passes beneath the second optical inspection sensor in a non-stop fashion. A computer is operably coupled to the first and second optical inspection sensors and is configured to provide an inspection result based upon at least one of the first and second inspection image data.

05-05-2011

20130208104

Custom color or polarization sensitive CCD for separating multiple signals in Autofocus projection system - An autofocus (AF) system and method is provided that maps the topography of a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer, in a manner that corrects for Goos Hanchen (GH) effect. In addition, a new and useful detector is provided that is particularly useful in an AF system and method. The detector preferably has both color and polarization filtering integrally associated with the detector, so that polarization and color filtering is provided at the detector, on a pixel by pixel basis.

08-15-2013

20130120554

COMPONENT TRANSFER APPARATUS AND SUCTION POSITION ADJUSTMENT METHOD FOR COMPONENT TRANSFER APPARATUS - A component transfer apparatus includes: an upthrust section that thrusts up a wafer component held by a wafer holding table from below; an extraction head that suctions the wafer component thrust up by the upthrust section or an adjustment chip placed on the upthrust section; an imaging section that performs imaging of the wafer component or the adjustment chip being suctioned by the extraction head; and a control section that controls driving of the extraction head and operations of the imaging section. Upon suction position adjustment, the control section causes the imaging section to perform imaging of the wafer component or the adjustment chip being suctioned by the extraction head, and adjusts a suction position of the wafer component by the extraction head based on a result of the imaging.

05-16-2013

20110261185

CHIP COMPONENT CARRYING METHOD AND SYSTEM, AND VISUAL INSPECTION METHOD AND SYSTEM - A method and a system for stabilizing the sight line of a chip component being carried on two discs, for stabilizing delivery of the chip component between the two discs, and improving and stabilizing the inspection accuracy in the visual check of the chip component. This is achieved by employing a mechanism for carrying the chip component while supporting it on the horizontal plane of the first rotary disc and then carrying the chip component while suction-holding it on the vertical plane of the second rotary disc. When the chip component is carried on the first rotary disc, the upper surface and one side face of the chip component are imaged by first and second cameras. When the chip component is carried on the second rotary disc, the lower surface and the other side face of the chip component are imaged by third and fourth cameras.

10-27-2011

20110285840

SOLDER BONDING AND INSPECTION METHOD AND APPARATUS - The present invention relates to an automated electrical connection module for automatically attaching a junction box to a composite solar cell structure. The electrical connection module includes a thermode assembly having heating elements for forming a soldered connection between the junction box and the composite solar cell structure and a temperature sensing device in thermal communication with the heating elements for detecting a temperature profile during the connection process. The heating elements and temperature sensing device are linked to a controller configured to monitor and compare the energy input into the heating elements with the temperature near the tip of the heating elements throughout the connection process. The electrical connection module further provides a vision system configured to capture images of the soldered connection between the junction box and the composite solar cell structure. The vision system is linked to the controller configured to analyze and compare the captured images to those of properly formed bonds to verify whether a quality bond is achieved.

11-24-2011

20130027542

ELECTRONIC COMPONENT CARRYING DEVICE AND ELECTRONIC COMPONENT CARRYING METHOD - A first imaging unit forming a first image by imaging a first surface of an electronic component having the first surface and a second surface, a second imaging unit forming a second image by imaging the second surface, a grasping unit grasping the electronic component, a movable unit moving the grasping unit, and a control unit detecting a position of the first surface using the first image, detecting a position of the second surface using the second image, and controlling the grasping unit and the movable unit are provided. The grasping unit brings relative positions between the grasping unit and the first surface into predetermined relative positions and grasps the electronic component using position information of the first surface detected by the control unit, and the movable unit moves the second surface to a predetermined position using position information of the second surface detected by the control unit.

01-31-2013

20120314054

METHOD AND MACHINE FOR EXAMINING WAFERS - Method and machine utilizes the real-time recipe to perform weak point inspection on a series of wafers during the fabrication of integrated circuits. Each real-time recipe essentially corresponds to a practical fabrication history of a wafer to be examined and/or the examination results of at least one examined wafer of same “lot”. Therefore, different wafers can be examined by using different recipes where each recipe corresponds to a specific condition of a wafer to be examined, even these wafers are received by a machine for examining at the same time.

12-13-2012

20110141267

OPTICAL INSPECTION SYSTEM USING MULTI-FACET IMAGING - An optical inspection system, the system includes: (i) an image sensor; and (ii) a single optical element, that at least partially surrounds an edge of an inspected object; wherein the optical element is adapted to direct light from different areas of the edge of the inspected object towards the image sensor so that the image sensor concurrently obtains images of the different areas.

06-16-2011

20120218402

COMPONENT PLACEMENT PROCESS AND APPARATUS - A pick and place machine is described which uses an imprint left in a layer of fluid by a component that has been dipped in the fluid to guide a placement process. An apparatus for placing a component is disclosed, which includes a surface that receives a layer of fluid, an imprint of a component in the layer of fluid, and a camera that captures an image of the imprint in the fluid. A method of placing a component with a pick and place machine is disclosed which includes dipping a component in a layer of fluid, capturing an image of the layer of fluid, analyzing the image of the layer of fluid, and placing the component based on results of the analysis of the image of the layer of fluid. The image can be used to determine the status of the component or where to place the component.

08-30-2012

20140160271

DETECTION SYSTEM AND METHOD - A detection system and method for detecting if of a plurality of electrical elements on a printed circuit board (PCB) is loaded inversely are provided. The system includes a setting module to receive a standard image of a standard PCB and select one or more of the electrical elements from the standard image by a user. A storage module stores a reference image. A capturing module captures an image of the PCB to be detected. A comparison module compares the image with the reference image to determine if any of the electrical elements having polarities is inversely loaded. A processing module reads a comparison result of the comparison module and makes a determination.

06-12-2014

20140078289

Die Bonder and Method of Position Recognition of Die - A die bonder comprises a storage unit which stores the image of the wafer taken by an imaging unit, a recognition pattern included the outline of a die formed on the wafer, and a recognition program, and a monitor-processing unit which gets the position on the wafer, of the die whose map data indicates normal, in the way that the die is matched with the recognition pattern by executing the recognition program, and that the center position of the die is gotten.

03-20-2014

20140160270

CORRECTION APPARATUS, PROBE APPARATUS, AND TEST APPARATUS - In order to decrease the time needed to correct misalignment when holding an object with positional accuracy and transport the object, provided is a correction apparatus that corrects misalignment of a transported object at a transport destination, comprising a first sensor that is secured to a transporting section transporting the object; and a correction control section that detects a first offset between the transporting section and the first sensor, while the object transported to the transport destination is positioned at the transport destination, by using the first sensor to detect a position of a first reference point provided to correspond to a target position at the transport destination. Also provided is a probe apparatus and a test apparatus.

06-12-2014

20140160269

INTERPOSER TESTING DEVICE AND METHOD THEREOF - The disclosure provides an interposer testing device for testing an interposer and a method thereof which includes a heat source, a thermal image capturing device and a comparing device. The heat source is adapted for heating an area to be tested on the interposer. The thermal image capturing device is adapted for capturing a thermal image of the interposer after the interposer is heated. The comparing device is adapted for comparing the thermal image with a standard thermal image to output a comparison result.

06-12-2014

20140160272

RECOGNITION APPARATUS, RECOGNITION METHOD, MOUNTING APPARATUS, AND MOUNTING METHOD - The recognition and mounting apparatus including a zoom lens capable of changing imaging magnification, a chip camera, having a plurality of imaging pixels, capable of capturing an image an IC chip having a plurality of bumps arranged at at least one interval, through the zoom lens, a storage unit for storing shape information of the IC chip including at least information indicating an arrangement interval between the plurality of bumps, and a signal processor adjusting imaging magnification of the zoom lens based on a length of the imaging pixel and the information indicating the arrangement interval stored in the storage unit, and recognizing a position of the bump based on a plurality of pixel values in the image captured by the chip camera may be provided.

06-12-2014

20140043463

TDI Sensor Modules With Localized Driving And Signal Processing Circuitry For High Speed Inspection - An inspection system for inspecting a surface of a wafer/mask/reticle can include a modular array. The modular array can include a plurality of time delay integration (TDI) sensor modules, each TDI sensor module having a TDI sensor and a plurality of localized circuits for driving and processing the TDI sensor. At least one of the localized circuits can control a clock associated with the TDI sensor. At least one light pipe can be used to distribute a source illumination to the plurality of TDI sensor modules. The plurality of TDI sensor modules can be positioned capture a same inspection region or different inspection regions. The plurality of TDI sensor modules can be identical or provide for different integration stages. Spacing of the modules can be arranged to provide 100% coverage of the inspection region in one pass or for fractional coverage requiring two or more passes for complete coverage.

INSPECTION METHOD - In an inspection method, an inspection region of a sample is divided into a plurality of stripe regions, and is divided into a plurality of groups so that a plurality of continuously arranged stripe regions constitutes one group. An optical image of a graphic pattern arranged in a stripe region of one of the groups is acquired while moving a stage in a longitudinal direction of the stripe region. The stage is then moved in a lateral direction of the stripe region. An optical image of a graphic pattern arranged in a stripe region of a group different from one of the groups in which the optical image is acquired, and in a stripe region not continuous to the stripe region whose optical image is acquired immediately before the movement in the lateral direction, is acquired while moving the stage in the longitudinal direction of the stripe region.

03-10-2016

20120242825

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MICROFLUIDIC DEVICE AND IMAGING THEREOF - A method for producing an image of an object within a chamber of a microfluidic device includes providing the microfluidic device having x, y, and z dimensions and a chamber depth center point located along the z dimension. The chamber depth center point is located a known z dimension distance from a fiducial marking embedded within the microfluidic device. The method also includes placing the microfluidic device within an imaging system that includes an optical device capable of detecting the fiducial marking. The optical device defines an optical path axially aligned with the z dimension and has a focal plane perpendicular to the optical path. When the focal plane is moved along the optical path, the fiducial marking is maximally detected when the focal plane is at the z depth in comparison to when the focal plane is not substantially in-plane with the z depth.

09-27-2012

20110249111

PROCESS CONTROL AND MANUFACTURING METHOD FOR FAN OUT WAFERS - A system and method for monitoring a manufacturing process of a fan-out wafer, the method may include acquiring a first set of images of dies after a completion of a first manufacturing stage of a manufacturing process of the fan-out wafer; processing the first set of images to detect defects; performing at least one corrective operation in response to at least one defect detected by processing the first set of images; acquiring a second set of images of dies after a completion of a second manufacturing stage of the manufacturing process of the fan-out wafer, the second manufacturing process follows the first manufacturing process; processing the second set of images to detect defects; and performing at least one corrective operation in response to at least one defect detected by processing the second set of images.

10-13-2011

20110128369

Pressure-Bonded Ball Diameter Detecting Apparatus and Pressure-Bonded Ball Diameter Detecting Method - Improving detectability of a diameter of a pressure-bonded ball bonded by a bonding apparatus by calculating the diameter of the pressure-bonded ball by obtaining a first tentative radius by subtracting a distance between a line representing an outline of a pad short side and a curving line representing an outline of a pressure-bonded ball from a distance between the line representing the outline of the pad short side and a bonding-control-center position of the pressure-bonded ball; obtaining a second tentative radius by subtracting a distance between a line representing an outline of a pad short side that faces toward the pad with which the first tentative radius is calculated and an outline of a pressure-bonded ball from a distance between the line representing the outline of the pad short side and a bonding-control-center position of the pressure-bonded ball; and averaging the same number of the first and the second tentative radii.

06-02-2011

20110134235

ALIGNMENT UNIT CONTROL APPARATUS AND ALIGNMENT METHOD - An alignment unit control apparatus according to the present invention includes: an imaging section configured to control cameras to image a plurality of regions on a surface of a substrate to generate a plurality of images; a region detecting section configured to select a detection region from the plurality of regions based on the plurality of images; and an aligning section configured to align the substrate based on an alignment image obtained by imaging a mark of the substrate in the detection region by one of the plurality of cameras. For this reason, the alignment unit control apparatus does not need to have another mechanism for the purpose of positioning the mark for alignment in the field of vision of the camera, and can more easily be manufactured, and a region of an alignment mark can be detected more easily.

06-09-2011

20160078610

POINT CLOUD MERGING FROM MULTIPLE CAMERAS AND SOURCES IN THREE-DIMENSIONAL PROFILOMETRY - A computer-implemented method of and system for measuring a three-dimensional surface are provided. The method includes projecting structured illumination on the surface and acquiring a plurality of sets of images. The sets of images are processed to obtain a plurality of point clouds. A spatial accumulator is defined. A first point cloud of the plurality of point clouds is combined with a second point cloud of the plurality of point clouds into the spatial accumulator. Spatial coordinates of the surface are generated based on the contents of the spatial accumulator.

03-17-2016

20110149062

Apparatus and Method for Aligning a Wafer's Backside to a Wafer's Frontside - Structures of a backside of a wafer can be aligned to structures of a frontside of the wafer for a lithographic treatment of the backside. The wafer is transparent for electromagnetic radiation of a specific wavelength. The wafer is placed on a wafer stage such that the frontside is facing the wafer stage and the backside is facing alignment optics. The backside is illuminated with electromagnetic radiation of the specific wavelength in a dark-field configuration, such that the electromagnetic radiation propagates through the wafer towards three-dimensional structures of a three-dimensional alignment target located at the frontside or inside the wafer and is scattered at the three-dimensional structures. The scattered electromagnetic radiation is captured with the alignment optics, and the backside is aligned to the frontside of the wafer based on the scattered electromagnetic radiation.

06-23-2011

20090231424

System and method for monitoring semiconductor device manufacturing process - A hotspot searching apparatus manufactures a small number of chips or regions on a semiconductor wafer under respectively different manufacturing process conditions, compares SEM images of their external appearances to output a point having large differences as a narrow process window, that is, a process monitoring point that should be managed in mass production, the narrow process window having a narrow manufacturing process condition (exposure condition) in the manufacturing of the semiconductor wafer, and sets the point as a measurement point by a CD-SEM apparatus, such that it extracts and determines plural circuit pattern parts having a narrow manufacturing process margin as the process monitoring point in a short time and a process monitoring point monitoring performs shape inspection or shape length measurement in detail at high resolution.

09-17-2009

20090135251

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EVALUATING A COMPONENT PICK ACTION IN AN ELECTRONICS ASSEMBLY MACHINE - An electronics assembly apparatus with improved pick evaluation is provided. The apparatus includes a placement head having at least one nozzle for releasably picking up and holding a component. A robotic system is provided for generating relative movement between the placement head and a workpiece, such as a circuit board. An image acquisition system is disposed to obtain at least one before-pick image of a component pick up location and at least one after-pick image of the component pick up location. The before-pick image contains a plurality of image portions, having each image portion view the pick-up location from a different point of view, while the after-pick image contains a plurality of image portions, having each image portion view the pick-up location from a different point of view.

05-28-2009

20160148366

MEASUREMENT PROCESSING DEVICE, SUBSTRATE PROCESSING SYSTEM, MEASUREMENT JIG, MEASUREMENT PROCESSING METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM - Disclosed is a measurement processing device including: a processing unit configured to control an imaging device to image a substrate, on which a processing film is removed from the peripheral edge portion, and an enclosure member that surrounds the substrate. A captured image obtained by the imaging device is processed to measure a cut width in which the processing film is absent in the peripheral edge portion of the substrate, and a gap width between a peripheral edge end of the substrate and the enclosure member.